CRICKET
Narine under suspicion
West Indian spinner Sunil Narine has again been reported for a suspect bowling action, the latest being at the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) competition in the United Arab Emirates. The off-spinner, whose career has been blighted by the issue, was reported twice during the Champions League Twenty20 in 2014 and twice more the following year. “Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during match between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators at Sharjah,” PSL organizers said in on Twitter. “Narine has now been placed on the warning list and may continue to be selected to play and bowl for his team.”
RUNNING
Champions win tower race
The Eiffel Tower was transformed into a sparkling vertical racecourse on Thursday night, as athletes dashed to the top of the iconic Paris monument in an annual race. Puffing, yet in good spirits, 129 runners from five continents made their way, one-by-one, up 1,665 steps to see who could reach the apex of the 324m structure in the fastest time. Piotr Lobodzinski of Poland, who has been the men’s champion since the vertical race first began in 2015, successfully defended his title, reaching the tower’s summit in 7 minutes, 56.67 seconds. In the women’s category, Suzy Walsham of Australia also gained her fourth victory, getting to the top in 10 minutes, 2.7 seconds.
SOCCER
West Ham security beefed up
Extra police are to be employed at West Ham United’s next home game following crowd trouble at their last Premier League match, London Stadium’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) announced on Thursday following an emergency meeting. Four pitch invasions marred West Ham’s 3-0 home defeat by Burnley on Saturday and the SAG warned that future trouble could lead to ground closures. “Following reassurances that have been given, it is the SAG’s view that the council does not need to use the ultimate sanction, which would see capacity reduced at the venue and spectators excluded. The remaining homes games will be closely monitored,” the SAG said in a statement. “The SAG must make clear that in the event of future disorder, it would seriously consider advising the certifying authority to take forward this sanction.” West Ham’s co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold had to leave the directors’ box for their own safety and the club are seeking life bans for the supporters who ran on to the pitch.
MOTOR SPORTS
Bee attack hospitalizes Foyt
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday after an attack of Africanized killer bees he encountered while working on his ranch. The attack was the second time the 83-year-old has disturbed beehives while working on his bulldozer. He sustained more than 200 stings to his head alone in a 2005 bee attack. A.J. Foyt Enterprises said in a statement that Foyt was released from a Texas hospital once he was stabilized. The team said this second bee attack was more serious than the first because the first encounter made Foyt more sensitive to bee stings. Foyt is to miss this weekend’s Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida. He was scheduled to be inducted into Sebring’s Hall of Fame yesterday.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
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